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**Arie Verheul** · 19 Jan 2009, 06:44 AM

Progressing insight

John,

I find myself in the same position all the time, and wished it would be only with respect to macros.
For me the compiler is full with things of which i have no idea what they are good for, and of which i sincerely hope that i will never need them. It is also a dishonest match, because the software guys are with many, and we have to understand it all by ourselves.
And by the time we have grasped it, they will have changed the system and make us start all over again.
For me it usually works pretty well to simply start using those things that i really need, and avoid confusing topics.
With some luck, and after some time, i then sometimes make some progresss, and start to grasp those issues that initially confused me.

A friend in suffering,

Arie Verheul

**Erich Schulman** · 19 Jan 2009, 09:14 AM

The MACRO would probably make more sense if you were experienced in ASM or C.

There are different reasons you might want to use a macro. One is to simply use a different name for a keyword. If you like the REXX language, you might have a macro like
MACRO SAY = PRINT
and now you can
SAY "Hello World"
instead of
PRINT "Hello World"
Internally, the compiler changes your SAY's to PRINT's, though the source code as you see it remains the same.

Invoking a FUNCTION or SUB requires branching to another part of memory, using the stack, etc. These operations do take some CPU cycles. Have you ever wished a variable could be shared between two functions and be invisible to all others? A macro can simplify these situations. The macro is effectively copied into the place where it is called when you compile the program. You get the appearance of using a function without actually using one. No branching, no stack operations, no variable scope issues. But when you peruse the calling function's source, you see 1 line rather than the 75 lines it represents.

I have also used a macro as a way to simplify stating arguments, but I can't post that until I can get to that computer's keyboard.

**Michael Mattias** · 19 Jan 2009, 09:58 AM

But I'm sure I still have NOT fully grasped the significance of macro variables or the implications of using them. (I really haven't found any substantive explanation of this point yet.)

You use these when you can't or don't want to pass ALL the variables needed to use a MACRO.
e.g (this is here in souce code forum):

Code:

' MACRO to sort an entire array (assumed dim'ed with LBOUND=0) on key "membername", direction=ASCEND or DESCEND
MACRO array_sort_udt_member(arrayname,membername,direction)
 MACROTEMP SortStart, SortEnd
 LOCAL SortStart AS LONG, sortEnd AS LONG
   SortStart = VARPTR(arrayname(0).membername) - VARPTR(arrayName(0)) + 1
   SortEnd   = SortStart + SIZEOF(arrayname(0).membername)
   Array Sort ArrayName(), From SortStart to SortEnd,direction
END

I needed "SortEnd" in my syntax for ARRAY SORT and could not get there without first calculating SortStart, so I used a temp variable.

Well, I guess I did not NEED a temp var, but the ARRAY SORT statement I would have ended up with would have both pretty ugly and inefficient had I not done this.

(It would have been inefficient because I would have had to calculate "SortStart" TWICE in the resulting expression... not good).

**Erich Schulman** · 19 Jan 2009, 10:55 AM

OK, here is another place where I used a macro.

Code:

MACRO SWfield(fieldno) = PARSE$(NgExps(SWrecord),$TAB,fieldno)

A function has numerous lines like this:

Code:

sOutput(4,XLrow) = AddStringMoneyStr(SWfield(20), sRow(2,XLrow) )

SW data refers to a TSV file generated by the SouthWare accounting package. XL refers to, well, MS Excel data.

Had I not used the macro, I would have had lines like this

Code:

sOutput(4,XLrow) = AddStringMoneyStr(PARSE$(NgExps(SWrecord),$TAB,20), sRow(2,XLrow) )

which is more error-prone to type and harder to understand when perusing the code.

**John Gleason** · 19 Jan 2009, 01:55 PM

John, below is code to show how macros might be used vs. other techniques. All do the same thing basically, so you can compare/contrast them. The idea is to quickly turn the numbers 0 thru 9 into formatted strings "0000" thru "0009".

Code:

#COMPILE EXE
#DIM ALL

MACRO mFormatNum(x)              'I generally try to use a little "m" prefix so I know it's a MACRO
  numAsString1 = "0000"
  ASC(numAsString1, 4) = x + 48  'numAsString1 now = "000x". The "+ 48" turns it from a (byte in this case)
                                 'number to its string representation, eg. 8 to "8", or 4 to "4"
END MACRO

MACRO FUNCTION mfFormatNum(x)    'little "mf" prefix so I know it's a MACRO FUNCTION
  LOCAL numAsString AS STRING
  numAsString = "0000"
  ASC(numAsString, 4) = x + 48   'numAsString now = "000x"
END MACRO = numAsString

FUNCTION formatNum(x AS LONG) AS STRING
  LOCAL numAsString AS STRING
  numAsString = "0000"
  ASC(numAsString, 4) = x + 48   'numAsString now = "000x"
  FUNCTION = numAsString
END FUNCTION

GLOBAL numAsString2 AS STRING

SUB subFormatNum(x AS LONG)
  numAsString2 = "0000"
  ASC(numAsString2, 4) = x + 48  'numAsString now = "000x"
END SUB

%ITERATIONS  = 4000066
%ITERATIONS1 = %ITERATIONS \ 100

FUNCTION PBMAIN () AS LONG
   LOCAL ii, x AS LONG, t AS SINGLE
   LOCAL numAsString1 AS STRING

'intrinsic PB FORMAT$ function----------------------------------------------------------------
   t = TIMER
   FOR ii = 1 TO %ITERATIONS1    'only 1/100 the # of iterations here so mult by 100 later to be fair.
      numAsString1 = FORMAT$(ii MOD 10, "0000")
   NEXT
   ? "PB FORMAT$ time:" & STR$((TIMER - t) * 100) & " sec.  Example output: " & numAsString1 'timer x 100

'multiline MACRO------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   t = TIMER
   FOR ii = 1 TO %ITERATIONS
      mFormatNum(ii MOD 10)
   NEXT
   ? "MACRO time:" & STR$(TIMER - t) & " sec.  Example output: " & numAsString1

'MACRO FUNCTION-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   t = TIMER
   FOR ii = 1 TO %ITERATIONS
      numAsString1 = mfFormatNum(ii MOD 10)
   NEXT
   ? "MACRO FUNCTION time:" & STR$(TIMER - t) & " sec.  Example output: " & numAsString1

'normal PB FUNCTION one might write-----------------------------------------------------------
   t = TIMER
   FOR ii = 1 TO %ITERATIONS
      numAsString1 = formatNum(ii MOD 10)
   NEXT
   ? "PB FUNCTION time:" & STR$(TIMER - t) & " sec.  Example output: " & numAsString1

'normal PB SUB with GLOBAL var----------------------------------------------------------------
   t = TIMER
   FOR ii = 1 TO %ITERATIONS
      subFormatNum(ii MOD 10)
   NEXT
   ? "PB SUB w/global time:" & STR$(TIMER - t) & " sec.  Example output: " & numAsString2

'GOSUB example--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   t = TIMER
   FOR ii = 1 TO %ITERATIONS
      x = ii
      GOSUB gsNumAsString
   NEXT
   ? "GOSUB time:" & STR$(TIMER - t) & " sec.  Example output: " & numAsString1
   EXIT FUNCTION

 gsNumAsString:                   '"gs" prefix stands for "GOSUB"
  numAsString1 = "0000"
  ASC(numAsString1, 4) = (x MOD 10) + 48   'numAsString now = "000x"
  RETURN

END FUNCTION

**Mel Bishop** · 19 Jan 2009, 02:58 PM

Okay. Let's try to simplify things a bit.

A macro is simply a canned routine, not unlike a SUB/FUNCTION where the compiler inserts the macro code in place of the "flag".

Take the following code:

Code:

#COMPILE EXE

REM ******************
REM * ph = (P)rint (H)ello *
REM ******************

MACRO ph = PRINT;"Hello World" : WAITKEY$

MACRO ph1
      PRINT;"Hello World again"
      WAITKEY$
      END MACRO

FUNCTION PBMAIN () AS LONG
    ph
    ph1

END FUNCTION

Would be the same, in the .EXE as

Code:

#COMPILE EXE

FUNCTION PBMAIN () AS LONG
    PRINT;"Hello World" : WAITKEY$

    PRINT;"Hello World again"
    WAITKEY$


END FUNCTION

**Brian Chirgwin** · 19 Jan 2009, 05:02 PM

Originally posted by John Montenigro View Post

But I'm sure I still have NOT fully grasped the significance of macro variables or the implications of using them. (I really haven't found any substantive explanation of this point yet.)

If you have a macro that is called more than once in the same function and you compile you will receive a duplicate definition error.

Code:

#COMPILE EXE
#DIM ALL

MACRO foo1
  
    DIM i AS LONG
    FOR i = 1 TO 10
        PRINT i
    NEXT i

END MACRO

FUNCTION PBMAIN () AS LONG

    foo1
    foo1 '<-- Duplicate definition here.
    
    WAITKEY$

END FUNCTION

Add the following to the first line of the macro.

Code:

   MACROTEMP i

What is produced is something similar to:

Code:

    DIM i001 AS LONG
    FOR i001 = 1 TO 10
        PRINT i001
    NEXT i001

    DIM i002 AS LONG
    FOR i002 = 1 TO 10
        PRINT i002
    NEXT i002
    
    WAITKEY$

I also understand that there is a Macro "Function" aspect, but I have not been able to grasp that yet - at all!!
...It makes no sense to me! If macros are "text replacement", then where does this "procedural" quality come from? A Macro isn't "executable" in the way that a Sub or Function is. Subs and Functions are procedural code structures; macros are not, they're just "blocks of text", and they can contain ANY TEXT, not just code statements. How can a macro "return" anything?... What's doing the processing, and how? What "receives" the value returned? What's checking datatypes? For that matter, what the heck is going on with "passing parameters" to a macro?!?! How does a block of replacement text "use" a parameter?????? ...I just don't get it!

I am not sure how PowerBASIC actually compiles a macro function. I think the following will help though. Consider a real function.

Calling a function has overhead (and I may miss some things).
* Save the registers
* add params to stack
* Jump to function code ptr
* Results placed on the stack
* Return from function
* pop the results of stack
* restore the registers
* continue with the instruction following the function call

A macro function is very similar to a multi line macro. In a multi line macro the lines of the macro are substituted for the macro name in the function that calls it; then the expanded function is compiled.

In a macro function the macro function is complied then placed in the compiled function at the location of the Macro name. There is a difference from a real function call as the macro function is placed directly into the calling function. There is no saving of the current registers, no jmp to function code ptr, the result of the function is placed on the call functions stack. In other words, the macro function is placed inside the calling function (just like a multi line macro); one difference being that a result is "returned" or placed on the stack.

I think a macro function is similar to C inline functions where the word inline can be used to tell the compiler to make the function inline when possible. Well, looking it up and yes this was true until true inline functions added in C99. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inline_...ison_to_macros

I don't think I have this 100%, but I hope clears it up some. I certainly hope I have not created more confusion.

**Paul Dixon** · 19 Jan 2009, 06:23 PM

I also understand that there is a Macro "Function" aspect, but I have not been able to grasp that yet - at all!!

It's not straight forward to return a value from a multiline macro. MACRO FUNCTION makes it easy.

Suppose we have a need to sum consecutive integers (a trivial example to use as demonstration)

Code:

'PBCC5 program
FUNCTION sum1(FromHere AS LONG, ToHere AS LONG) AS LONG
LOCAL r,sum AS LONG
FOR r& = FromHere TO ToHere
    sum=sum+r&
NEXT
FUNCTION=sum
END FUNCTION


FUNCTION PBMAIN () AS LONG
LOCAL k AS QUAD
LOCAL s AS LONG

TIX k&&
s=sum1(2,5)
s=s+sum1(5,10)

TIX END k&&
PRINT k&&,s

WAITKEY$
END FUNCTION

This runs in about 600-700 CPU clks

Suppose we need to make it faster with a MACRO, we'd have to do something like this:

Code:

'PBCC5 program
MACRO sum1(FromHere,ToHere)
MACROTEMP r,sum
    LOCAL r,sum AS LONG
    FOR r& = FromHere TO ToHere
        sum=sum+r&
    NEXT
    SpecialVariable=sum  'need to assign the result to something here
END MACRO


FUNCTION PBMAIN () AS LONG
LOCAL k AS QUAD
LOCAL s AS LONG
LOCAL SpecialVariable AS LONG  'need a variable to receive the result here

TIX k&&
sum1(2,5)         'not the "normal" way to call a function in BASIC
s=SpecialVariable
sum1(5,10)
s=s+SpecialVariable

TIX END k&&
PRINT k&&,s

WAITKEY$
END FUNCTION

This works and runs in 200 to 250 CPU clks, over twice as fast as the FUNCTION version because there is no call overhead.
But, it's cumbersome to use. We need to call the function in an unnatural way and the calling function and MACRO need to be aware of which variable is to be used to pass the result.

A MACRO FUNCTION makes it easier because we can then write:

Code:

'PBCC5 program
MACRO FUNCTION sum1(FromHere,ToHere)
MACROTEMP r,sum
    LOCAL r,sum AS LONG
    FOR r& = FromHere TO ToHere
        sum=sum+r&
    NEXT

END MACRO =sum


FUNCTION PBMAIN () AS LONG
LOCAL k AS QUAD
LOCAL s AS LONG


TIX k&&
s=sum1(2,5)
s=s+sum1(5,10)

TIX END k&&
PRINT k&&,s

WAITKEY$
END FUNCTION

This runs in around 300 CPU clks, not quite as fast as the multiline MACRO version but still over twice as fast as the FUNCTION version because it is still compiled inline, like any other MACRO.
However, it is just as easy to read and understand as the FUNCTION version because no special variables are needed and code can be written naturally.

I hope that helps.

Paul.

**Paul Dixon** · 19 Jan 2009, 06:54 PM

I understand that the macro capability in PB is a text-replacement capability

It's not a pure text-replacement. The compiler does things with it in addition to just replacing the text.
In the above example, instead of

Code:

s=sum1(2,5)

becoming

Code:

s=SomeTextExpansionOfTheMacro

for a MACRO FUNCTION it becomes

Code:

SomeTextExpansionOfTheMacro
s=ReturnExpression

I'm sure I still have NOT fully grasped the significance of macro variables or the implications of using them

You probably have fully grasped it but don't realise. There's not a lot to them.
MACROTEMP variables just make sure that variables within the MACRO don't conflict with variables of the same name in the code in which the MACRO is embedded. Internally, the compiler makes up non-conflicting replacement names for all variables defined as MACROTEMP.

Paul.

**Mel Bishop** · 19 Jan 2009, 07:33 PM

Bryan, I tried your error example in my example and it compiled and ran as advertised.

I think what PB doesn't like in your program is the duplicate "DIM i AS LONG". You are dimming the same "I" in the same function. That's a no-no.

**Brian Chirgwin** · 19 Jan 2009, 07:45 PM

Mel,

Correct I was pointing out that the macro Dim i as long was put into the function twice (macro called twice).

Adding the command MACROTEMP i makes it so that the compiler does more than a search/replace, it changes the name i in each expansion of the macro.

Originally posted by Mel Bishop View Post

Bryan, I tried your error example in my example and it compiled and ran as advertised.

I think what PB doesn't like in your program is the duplicate "DIM i AS LONG". You are dimming the same "I" in the same function. That's a no-no.

**Frank Fenti** · 19 Jan 2009, 09:30 PM

Good evening everybody

A few years ago there was a post about everybody’s favorite and/or useful macros. I’ve searcher for it unsuccessfully severely times. And now I can’t seem to resist asking if anyone remembers it?

As always thanks in advance .

**Gösta H. Lovgren-2** · 19 Jan 2009, 11:27 PM

John, I find macros useful to make code more readable. for example

Code:

'
Start Loop
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
'
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do more stuff here
' insert code to do more stuff here
' insert code to do more stuff here
' insert code to do more stuff here
' insert code to do more stuff here
' insert code to do more stuff here
'
' insert code to do even more stuff here
' insert code to do even more stuff here
' insert code to do even more stuff here
' insert code to do even more stuff here
' insert code to do even more stuff here
' insert code to do even more stuff here
' insert code to do even more stuff here
Repeat Loop

compared to reading:

Code:

macro Do_Stuff
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
' insert code to do stuff here
end macro
 
macro Do_More_Stuff
' insert code to do more stuff here
' insert code to do more stuff here
' insert code to do more stuff here
' insert code to do more stuff here
' insert code to do more stuff here
' insert code to do more stuff here
end macro
 
'Macros make code more readable
Start Loop
  Do_Stuff         
  Do_More_Stuff
  Do_Even_More_Stuff
Repeat Loop

Even if the Macro is only called once, it makes the code easier to follow. What I do a lot is work out all the kinks in a code section (say Do_Stuff)then put it into a Macro, then go on to the next section, ....

Plus I find it convenient to see the (descriptively named) Macros in the Function list (F5 in JFPro).

One Macro I find particularly convenient if printing to a file is

Code:

Macro pf = Print #1,

Then in code it's merely

Code:

pf "Stuff"

. Much quicker and less typos.

==================================
There is nobody so irritating
as somebody with less intelligence
and more sense than we have.
Don Herold
==================================

**John Montenigro** · 20 Jan 2009, 08:00 AM

Whew! I appreciate the responses!

With all due respect, some of the examples given here probably make perfect sense to someone who already has an understanding of macros... but to someone with no prior experience with them, I'm finding it difficult to extract the explanations I seem to need.

@Arie,
I appreciate your sympathetic comments and support, but I cannot wait to learn macros until someday when I might need them - I want to learn and master them now, so that when I design a program, I'll know when to use or to not use macros. In a few days, I'm going to post some code that I'm working on that I think could benefit from macros, but as of this moment, I'm not sure. Thus, my request for general guidance first, so that I can do the work of learning now, so that later when I have to ask my specific questions, I will have some background, and others won't be shouldering the whole burden for me.

@Erich,
"The MACRO would probably make more sense if you were experienced in ASM or C."

Probably!! But I'm not, so it doesn't - yet!

I understand simple text replacement, as your Hello World example shows. Thanks!

"Internally, the compiler changes your SAY's to PRINT's, though the source code as you see it remains the same."

I'm going to draw a conclusion from this (and a tidbit in the Help file), and hope it makes sense: the compiler has a built-in "pre-processor" that, in one of its early passes, scans the source file for Macro definitions, and performs replacements of the "identifier" with the defined text. When debugging, the IDE does not show us the substitutions, but the "pre-compiler" manages them.

OK, I can accept that. (I'd prefer that the IDE could show replaced text, and I can request that from PB separately...)

And I understand that after a Sub or Function (formally defined as a "procedure") is compiled into machine code in an .EXE file then submitted to the OS to run, it will use a "call stack" and other structures as it executes.
But the compiler pre-processes code statements (actually, ANY text) in a Macro, so those statements simply replace their identifiers, and after being replaced, they are seen by the compiler in the context in which the identifier was located. (That's what gives me my "point of placement" questions...)

But this does not explain "parameters" that are "passed to" a macro... Parameters to a procedure are pushed onto the frame stack, etc. Macros are not operating in that environment - they have already been put into the source where the identifier was, so they have no frame stack like a procedure does.

Hmmmm... yet people keep referring to parameters "passed" to a macro, so there is something going on, but I'm stuck on terminology. What accounts for this "passing" thing?

@Michael,
From your initial statement and your sample code, I would venture a guess that SortStart and SortEnd were NOT already present in your Sub or Function prior to where the array_sort_udt_member(...) identifier was placed.
If they were, you would not have needed the MACROTEMP and LOCAL lines, right? (This makes me wonder if there are presumed "guidelines" as to "scope" of variables in macros - is it OK for a macro to presume that a variable was declared in the non-macro code that precedes the macro's point of use?)

Actually, Michael, I'm really interested in how you came to the decision to create that code as a macro, that a macro was what you needed. What was the problem with just putting in 3 lines of code, rather than the 3 lines plus 3 or 4 more...???

@Erich (#2),
I do understand this kind of text replacement, and I appreciate the example, and I agree that it helps understanding and maintainability...

@John G,
I will be running your code a little later today in order to understand all you've presented. Thanks! I'll get back to you with questions.

@Mel,
That's a very clear example of text replacement, thanks! I think my difficulty pertains more to macro "variables", and how they relate to the code that the macro is getting replaced into...

---------
@All,
OK, as I'm understanding it, technically: "macro parameters" are not "passed" to the macro in the same way that parameters are passed to a procedure - with procedure parameters, numeric values are passed as numeric datatypes and strings are passed via a handle, but with macros, their values are just substitued as text. So, there really is no "passing" params to a macro....???

Seems that everyone else doesn't see this as an important difference... How can it not matter?

It seems to me that all the references to macro "parameters" are NOT really talking about passing references as on a frame stack, but are merely "substitutions" that the pre-processor performs before doing text replacements? Would it be fair to say that macro variables are pre-pre-processed? First, throughout the macro, the "variables" are substituted with "values", and then the macro identifier gets replaced with this "expanded" text... If this is how it works, then I think I'm closer to understanding macro "variables".

However, I am just not understanding a macro's "return value" - how can a macro return a value???? If it's not a procedure with a call frame/stack, then what is the mechanism whereby it "returns" a value? And what mechanism accepts that return value? How?

I still feel like I'm in the dark. This sucks. Has no one written a "Macros for dummies" ???

**John Montenigro** · 20 Jan 2009, 08:28 AM

@Brian C (message #8)
I followed you up to "one diference being..." then I lost the focus. But up till that point, that was an execellent explanation of how/why/what about MACROTEMP. That gets bookmarked for future reference.

Previously when I tried to read and understand about MACROTEMP, I don't think I'd ever really considered having the macro called more than once in the same procedure, so the unique number didn't make sense to me. But your example was an eye-opener, and makes me realize more potential for using macros.

@Paul D, (message #9)
:lightbulb: What an explanation! Put this message into the Wiki! That was a great example, and excellent step-by-step breakdown! Thank you!!!!

Now I can see what all this Macro Function stuff is about: It's for when the macro extends beyond just a few lines to be replaced - its for when the replacement text encompasses an entire function!

I really do get it - when the replacement text covers an entire Function, there needs to be a way for the replacement text to behave like a Function, and Macro Function enables the compiler to make that distinction, and to create the frame stack mechanism to handle it just like a native Function... if all the compiler could do was replace text, then a macro could not handle an entire Function without the surrounding code having to be aware of the macro and it's internals - which would kinda defeat a proper coding style.

Whew!

@Gosta,
Thanks for the examples - but more for sharing your process of developing the macros afterward. Until I get comfortable with them, I can't even think of designing macros without seeing "normal" code first...

**John Montenigro** · 20 Jan 2009, 08:31 AM

@All,
Thanks for your help! I'm sure that Paul's excellent walkthrough would not have been as effective had not everyone else forced me to think and pay attention. I appreciate your support!

Now I'm going to go back to the code I've been working on and see if I can properly assess whether macros would be appropriate. I'll post the code in a separate thread in a day or so.

Thanks again!

Wow! This is cool stuff...

**Paul Dixon** · 20 Jan 2009, 08:44 AM

John,

However, I am just not understanding a macro's "return value"

See post #10 above.
A multiline macro cannot return a value because it's just a text substitution but it would be more useful if a value could be "returned" in order that slow FUNCTIONs can be more readily replaced with faster MACROs. The compiler implements a MACRO FUNCTION to get around that problem.
Maybe you should think of it as a "result" value and not a "returned" value.

If your MACRO FUNCTION is:

Code:

MACRO FUNCTION test
BodyOfMacroFunction
END MACRO = ResultOfMacroFunction

and the code calling the MACRO FUNCTION is:

Code:

FUNCTION PBMAIN () AS LONG
PRINT test
END FUNCTION

Then the resulting code generated will be this:

Code:

FUNCTION PBMAIN () AS LONG
BodyOfMacroFunction
PRINT ResultOfMacroFunction
END FUNCTION

For a real example, look at this:

Code:

MACRO FUNCTION test
PRINT "one"
END MACRO = "two"
       
FUNCTION PBMAIN () AS LONG
    
PRINT test
WAITKEY$
END FUNCTION

When the main code gets to the line PRINT test, the body of the MACRO is executed first then the assignment at the end of the MACRO is made. In this case the resulting code is

Code:

FUNCTION PBMAIN () AS LONG
  
PRINT "one"   'this is the body of the MACRO FUNCTION  
PRINT "two"   'this is the assignment of the result into the original PRINT statement
WAITKEY$
END FUNCTION

Edit: John, Looks like I was composing this message as your light came on!

**John Montenigro** · 20 Jan 2009, 09:03 AM

Originally posted by Paul Dixon View Post

Code:

FUNCTION PBMAIN () AS LONG
  
PRINT "one"   'this is the body of the MACRO FUNCTION  
PRINT "two"   'this is the assignment of the result into the original PRINT statement
WAITKEY$
END FUNCTION

Edit: John, Looks like I was composing this message as your light came on!

Paul,

Yep! Your message #9, combined with other messages and Brian's message #8 have done the trick! Thank you!!

And I appreciate the clever and surprising "PRINT test" macro. Since I found the result unexpected, I realize I hadn't understood the full implication right away. I realize I needed to examine the macro much more precisely.

Good stuff - thanks!

**John Gleason** · 20 Jan 2009, 09:43 AM

John, if you have code you're turning into a macro, it would probably help to post it and your macro, then perhaps PB'ers could offer suggestions that would be directly relevant and understandable in your particular example.

Announcement

MACROs for beginners

MACROs for beginners

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